Turn Out the Lights
You think therefore you die
An exciting new novel by
Roger Michael Ward
In this futuristic novel, Scotland have independence from the United Kingdom, and the North Eastern Territories centred on Newcastle are demanding a vote for independence from England. The Prime Minister and leader of the Socialist Labour Government is determined to win the election at any cost. The administration need 22,000 votes and devise plans to sway the election in their favour using social media and virtual reality holidays. However the UK's top security chief wants to implement a Backstop in case the other plans fail...
The book follows the lives of characters living in Newcastle and their stories of intrigue, adventure, romance and loss, manipulated by the scheming hand of an immoral leadership. For most it appears to end in disaster, but a twist in fate offers them a second chance.
This science fiction novel draws on an actual historical event and the horror of its bigoted logic, callous methodology and the subsequent cover up by successive governments.
Kindle and paperback versions available
About the author
Roger Michael Ward was born in London, attended Colfe’s Grammar School, obtained a BSc degree in electronic engineering at the University of Sussex, and has a Warwick MBA. After university he worked as a teacher at two secondary schools, then as a teaching software designer at Queen Mary University of London before moving into industry. His interest in typefaces led him to work for Letraset and then URW GmbH, and a career in computer graphics. He now owns a printing software and equipment company.
He is married and has two grown up children, and lives in Sevenoaks, Kent.
His interests include walking, sailing, astronomy and playing the piano, as well as creative writing and music in general. His favourite author is Kurt Vonnegut.
This is his first novel. A draft was written in the month of November 2020 during the Covid lockdown and won a Nanowrimo Award. This final edition was released in 2024.
He can be contacted by email at: cosmicprankster@hotmail.com
Background
The author writes, 'I was prompted to write this book upon studying the history of the Katyn massacre, the execution of 22,000 Polish prisoners of war in 1940. Apart from the sheer scale in terms of numbers of dead, three features of the Katyn massacre stand out.
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It was secretly carried out by the Soviets in 1940, the first graves were uncovered by the German army in 1943 in the Katyn Forest, and many other burial sites were subsequently found in surrounding areas. For sixty years the Soviets denied responsibility and blamed the Nazis.
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About 8,000 were murdered for being intelligent people. They weren’t soldiers, just ordinary civilians, mostly holding professional jobs.
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Some of the killings, about 7,000 were carried out by just one man over a period of 28 days, shot in the back of the head with a German-made .25 ACP Walther Model 2 pistol.
The shocking circumstances of the Katyn massacre had a profound effect upon me, and I began to recast a scenario; a reincarnation of Stalin and his lieutenants within a future British Government. The result is this book, ‘Turn Out the Lights’. This isn’t a historical account of Katyn, but I have drawn on the central characters and themes of the massacre to draw the reader’s attention to its horror, of bigoted logic and callous methodology. I’ve selected a futuristic surreal setting to distance the reader from its disturbing psychopathy, whilst drawing on current and past events to make it plausible. I’ve also borrowed the title and some of the ideas from the poems and songs of Jim Morrison and The Doors.
In remembrance of the 22,000 who died without ceremony, some of whom have never been found, many at the hand of the most prolific executioner in history.'
Picture: The Katyn Memorial in Gunnersbury Cemetery, London.
What people say
Turn Out the Lights revisits one of the most shocking events in history but manages to portray it in a relaxed and very readable manner. The twist at the end was very uplifting.
Sarah B,
Dulwich, UK